Runner Delays Open Heart Surgery For Senior Season, Sets PR in Final Race

Mother’s Day is not Peyton Tozer’s strongest time of the year. It’s not that he’s a bad son—it’s more that his luck just isn’t great around that time.

In 6th grade, he broke his wrist riding bikes with his friend on Mother’s Day sidelining him from baseball. Then, six years later as a senior nearing graduation, he broke both of his wrists, one requiring surgery the week of the holiday.

His second break, which occurred earlier this year, happened a month before the state championships in Wisconsin, where he hoped to PR one last time before his school running days were over. After that, adult life loomed: college, internships, jobs, and, in Tozer’s case, immediately going into open heart surgery.

Tozer, now 18, from Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin, was diagnosed with two early-stage heart conditions when he was in second grade. The first is an aortic root dilation, which is dilation of the artery that delivers blood to the body. The second is nitro valve regurgitation, which is a leak in the valve between the chambers in your heart.

“Think of it like a balloon growing larger, and then the walls get thinner, and it pops,” Tozer told Runner’s World over the phone. “Doctors noticed it right away in second grade, and I’ve been on blood pressure medication, so it’s been a while living with this.”

He was able to live with both conditions, and still be able to compete—first as a baseball player stuck in the outfield, and then later as a runner, after the coach at McDonell Area Area Schools discovered Tozer’s long-legged, slender figure and recruited him to run for the school.

He lived a normal, worry-free kid life until an annual checkup during his freshman year of high school. Then, he discovered his aorta had dilated to 5 centimeters (cm), a concerning level. At first, doctors said he would not be able to compete until it was repaired. But when they sought out a second opinion, the doctors said he could continue to run—they had seen dilation go up to 6 cm, so they said it could reach that.

Fast forward to senior year, though, and that’s where his heart had arrived near the breaking point. The first doctors he consulted said he needed open heart surgery just as his senior year was about to begin.

With his final year in jeopardy, Tozer reached out again for a second opinion, and the doctors cleared him for his final track season. But they had to be cautious, and open heart surgery would need to come right after the season.

“It was a point where my heart could have changed at any point, so the risk is always there,” Tozer said. “My dad had to be at races. He was there not just for medical emergencies and mom was there too. They were mainly there to support me, and if anything happened, they were the for that.”

In his final track season, Tozer nailed PRs (17:56 in the 5K for cross country and 2:08 for the 800m in track), supported his team, and even stepped in to do hurdles to earn his team extra points. Well, he at least tried to. That’s how he broke his wrist the second time when his foot caught a hurdle.

This required surgery and sidelined him for two weeks, but not for state. “It actually was a nice preview for open heart surgery,” Tozer joked. At the state championships, he PR’d in the 800 with a 2:08 while wearing a brace on his left wrist.

Tozer was on the operating table a little more than a week later. Knowing the surgery was coming since he was a boy helped ease his mind going in. After hours in the room, the surgery was a success. And five days later, he was released from the hospital.

Three weeks out of the successful open heart surgery, Tozer is still rehabbing. He’s taking it easy, and going to physical therapy to loosen up his chest again. He should be able to run by the end of the month.

As for the future? Tozer will attend Chippewa Technical College in the fall. While he won’t be running collegiately, he still wants to pick up where he left off fitness-wise as soon as possible.

“I got all of my scars out the way this year,” Tozer said. “I haven’t planned too far ahead. I want to see what level I come back at. I was in the best shape of my life at the end of the season, and I hope to be where I was. I’m going to Tech in the fall and my teammate lives not too far away so I just want to be able to run and talk like we used. That would be nice.”

Andrew DawsonGear & News EditorDrew covers a variety of subjects for Runner’s World and Bicycling, and he specializes in writing and editing human interest pieces while also covering health, wellness, gear, and fitness for the brand.

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